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How long will it take to get a visa to Canada?

Applying for a Canadian visa is very easy, takes relatively little time and involves two major stages. The first one is logging into the CIC website, filling in the required forms, paying any associated fees and uploading any required documents. The next stage is where the officials at the Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) review your application and decide whether or not you are eligible to visit or permanently move to Canada.

This process can take anywhere from one to three weeks depending on a variety of things. After your application goes through this process, your passport will then be taken to the VAC for stamping. This process can take upwards of 10 business days.

That being said, there isn’t really a straight answer to the question “How long will it take to get a visa to Canada?”. The following are some things that you can do to reduce the approval time.

Are you from a high risk country?

Make sure you aren’t from a country that the Canadian government considers “high risk”. Applications from such countries usually take a longer time to be processed as compared to other countries. High risk countries are those that are deemed to have a variety of social economic problems, those that have ineffective border controls, those that the Canadian government is in conflict with and the like.

Are you financially stable?

Make sure that you provide enough evidence to show that you are financially stable. Applications where the applicant can’t prove the employment status tend to take longer to get approved. This evidence should come in the form of letters from employers, investments owned, cash in personal back accounts etc.

When did you get married?

Make sure that your marriage date and Canada visa application date are spaced far apart. This is because the CIC officials tend to dig deeper into an applicant’s documents if they find out that there was a marriage to a Canadian national just before the application date. They do this in order to avoid such cases of immigration fraud.

What else?

Another thing that you might want to add to your application is any evidence that you have traveled abroad before and gone back to your country of origin. This small thing, coupled with the evidence of adequate financial means expedites any application approval process.
Lastly, make sure that you provide all the required documents. This is because the CIC officials tend to base their decisions on the documents submitted. In that same vein, make sure you provide authentic documents. Using fake documents will not only result in your application being denied but you may also get a lifelong ban.